Horseperson Feature
Amber Woodruff
Acushnet
Master of All Keeps Riding Fun
by Andrea Bugbee
A
The Golden Lasso
Debora LaMonica, a Centerville resident, says, “Amber has always been talented. I used to let little Amber ride my horse, Gonzo. She was born to be on a horse.” Debora says that Amber has an innate ability to communicate with animals. “She’s physically elegant, and she likes all horses and disciplines. In fact, the harder the horse, the more she likes it. She enjoys doing different things. I applaud her for that.” Nancy Murphy of Middleboro is a United States Equestrian Federation hunter/jumper judge who sits on the zone 1 hunter committee and has known Amber for the last ten years. “One of the things that impresses me a ton about Amber is her love of horses,” 14
August/September 2016
says Nancy, “and she’s an incredibly talented rider, and she’s humble and modest about it.” According to Nancy, the quality that makes Amber stand out among
Km Smith Photography
mber Woodruff, of Acushnet, has been a professional hunter/jumper rider for ten years. Later, she decided to learn to ride western, a second discipline in which she now competes at the professional level. Four years ago, Amber agreed to try her hand as Western Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) coach for Hillside Meadows Farm in Grafton. Since then, her team has made it to IEA Nationals every year. She’s currently the Western Zone 1 IEA president. She owns two horses, is employed by three stables, and works seven days a week. She rides 6 to 12 horses a day. On the two days that she’s at Hillside Meadows, she coaches 20 to 25 people. For fun, she competes in rodeos with her handsome horse-riding fiancé, Nate Viera. For Amber, riding is never routine — and it’s always personal. “I genuinely love it,” she says. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do.” It’s very possible that Amber is also Wonder Woman (she does wear tall boots and fitted pants), but nobody has yet confirmed it.
trainers is “ . . . first and foremost, her love of horses. This isn’t a business venture for her. I always tease that she’s still an eight-year-old pony kid,” Nancy says, laughing. “When working at training rides, for example, Amber might have a dozen different horses on her roster, but she never uses a rote formula. Even if it’s only on the short journey between the stall and the mounting block, Amber takes the time to really sight in on that horse,” Nancy says. “Amber notes the horse’s physical needs and attitude day to day, horse to horse. She pats them, loves them, takes them for a walk, or rides in a field.”
Making a Kid a Hero Amber grew up in Mashpee, and Maushop Stables was where she learned to post, jump, and show. There, Amber fell under the influence of owner/ trainer Robin Blakeman, who wisely used fun as her “Miracle-Gro” for lifelong equestrians. “She let us ride bareback and go gallop and jump out in the fields,” Amber says. “She just let us be kids.” The notion that riding should be fun remains with Amber today. As her experience grew, she moved on to Holly Hill Farm, a show stable in Marston Mills. “They taught me that if you want something and are willing to work for it, you can make it happen,” says Amber. “They gave me many opportunities to catch ride. To me, that made me the rider I am today.” Under Holly Hill’s guidance, Amber won five local junior medal championships, competing on different horses. Her junior years also brought Amber to Grazing Fields Farm in Buzzards Bay, where she’s now a coach and trainer. At Grazing Fields, she met owner Kathy Fletcher. Where Robin Blakeman had set the example of always keeping riding fun, Kathy helped young Amber turn her passion into a career. “[Kathy’s] really the person who educated me to be a professional,” Amber says. “She taught me to be thoughtful, decisive, rational, and to always make the best out of any situation.” From buying a horse, to planning a horse show, to running a business, and everything in between, Amber says that Kathy has been a generous and knowledgeable mentor.
Flying the Glass Airplane A hard worker and a hunter/jumper champion, Amber went from high school straight into every horse-hungry